Experience Your Life Blog

Thinking About...

Playtime!

Remember when you were a kid and summer held the promise of endless adventures and unexpected surprises? You could wake up on any given morning with no idea what was coming up but by the end of the day you were exhausted and worn out from your many adventures. It was a time free of responsibilities and expectations. It was a time to play.

Do you still know how to play?

Somehow as adults many of us have lost that spontaneous ability to play, to cut loose without a plan and see what kind of adventures unfold. It is so easy to get locked into a schedule and adopt the belief that our work and the expectations that others place on us are the sum of who we are, that the ability to relax and enjoy free moments gets lost in all of the things we are supposed to be doing.

I'd like to invite you to let this summer be a time when you recapture spontaneous play. Leave a Saturday free and let your instincts guide you through the day. Turn on the sprinklers and run through them. See an old-fashioned popcorn movie or even two. Go to the beach and make sand castles, or like me, this last weekend, make pickles.

I know it seems silly but I was growing cucumbers in my garden and I suddenly got a whim to try making pickles. I mean really, who actually makes homemade pickles? So I found a recipe and gave it a go. They came out great and I had a fun time playing in the kitchen and making something just for fun.

Rediscover the silly things that catch your attention and give them a try. There doesn't have to be a purpose or an outcome, just let the whim of the moment lead you to do something you want to do just for the fun of it.